Roger Federer served 49 games at last week’s Western and Southern Open. When it was all said and done he had 49 holds and high praise from one of ESPN’s top commentators.
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During Saturday’s semifinal victory over Andy Murray, the Mothership’s Brad Gilbert was blown away by Federer’s ability to clean up after his serve with the forehand. It’s something Federer has always excelled at, but this year Federer appears to have taken up a notch.
“To me he is an unbelievable spot-server, and then he looks to hurt you,” Gilbert said. “He’s never satisfied to get the point started. It’s amazing how many first balls he is able to hit. He commits to hurting you as soon as he hits his spot on the serve better than any player I have ever seen in the history of the game.”
He added: “Pete [Sampras] had an amazing ace serve. Fed doesn’t serve as big. He hits his spot like Greg Maddux the pitcher, and he backs up the first ball on his forehand better than anybody I’ve ever seen.”
Federer perfect serving performance marked just the fourth time that he’s won an ATP title without dropping serve, and the first since 2012.
In other news, Federer’s return has been looking pretty good, too: